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Pamphlet File Ar 11 )(~\J\~ v< u60ooU.s. A p Misc.- pfublicatiofl 11 TE L-BRARY 07 CCKIESS Legilative Refoetaio Servioe PAMPHLET FILE I FICOF REUNITED STATES POSTAL .VICE Prepared at the request of Honorable Wayne Horse by Esther J. Dudgeon Analyst in Transportation and Couuu'xiations Economics Division 1 June 7, 1957 1 Rerun October.11, 1963 LIBRARY UVERSITY OiCALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA AR 1970 GOVT. PU1LICAIN DEPT. JISTCMY OF THE UNITED STAT In a sense, the United States postal service can be said to have had its beginning with the decree of the General Court of Massachusetts in 1639, that- It is ordered -that ;notVs be given that. Richard Fairbanks, his house in Boston is the place appointed for all letters which are brought from beyond the seas or are to be sent thither to be left with him, and he is to take care that they are to be delivered or sent according to the directions; and he is allowed for every letter a penny, and must answer all mis-carriage. through his own negligence in this kind. Before this date the American colonists depended upon the good offices of master of ships, Indians, travelers, special private messengers, or courtesy of the Virginia planters. Letters from overseas were left by sea captains at a reputable tavern or ooffee-house to be called for by addressees, the house of Fairbanks being the first place designated for purposes of collecting and receiving mail. In 1657 the Virginia Assembly required that all letters 'superw- scribed for the service of His Majesty or publique shall be isnediately conveyed from plantation to plantation to the place and person they are directed to under penalty of one hogshead of tobacco for each default." About the same time the Dutch at New Amsterdam took wsures to prevent private sending or receiving of "ship letters. H I -2- The first postal service designed for intercolonial commnication was a decree of Governor Lovelace of New York in 1672, which ordered that a post should "goe i thy. botaren New York and Boston." This was the first officially established post route in America. A. courier was appointed by the -governor and. an annual salary fixed for his services. This pioneer postman was obliged to travel through trackless forests and part of his duty was to mark the trees for travelerswho might wish to follow his route.*The routeblased by this miil courier has long been -known as the Boston:.PostRoad and is now part of U. S. highway Route 1. - A noteworthy feature of this postal service'and a source of much pride to the governor, was the "closed pouch" handling of ail, which -is an important principle of modern'postal service. - Shortly af-ter i the establishment of the service the Dutch- captured -Ntw York and -the Boston-New York post had to be discontinued. The first successful postal system to be established in' any of the colonies was that of William Penn. In 1683 he started service 'between Philadelphia and "New Castle or the Falls of the Delawar'e". Attempts. .were made by.- several of the colonies to. establish postal service during this- period, without notable. success. But, during this asme -year a post route was, established from Maine to Georgia. A start toward establishing a general service-os throughout all the English colonies was made in -1691, when Willisna-ad Mary granted a patent to Thomas Neale. (then Master of the Mint) -giving -hin full power and authority to establish an inter-colonial postal service between all -3 - the colonies and to establish offices in the chief places. The letters patent were granted for a term of 21 years. Neale appointed an Edin-. burgh merchant, Andrew Hamilton, as Postmaster General for America. He was the first officer of any rank appointed to serve all the British possessions in America without reference to separate colonies, and for this reason he had a difficult task. He was well liked by colonial leaders and possessed an unusual degree of executive ability. His efforts culminated in passage, by practically all the colonial assemblies, of postal acts sufficiently identical in their terms so that. a united system of posts could be established in America. In 1693, Hamilton's Intercolonial Postal Union commenced weekly service between Portsmouth, N. H., and Virginia. Salaries paid employees were liberal and rates of postage were high, though they were not then regarded as excessive. In 1698 Hamilton, in partnership with a Mr. West, .took over the ownership of the American posts. The service then was as complete and satisfactory as any. in Europe and the postage rates, though prescribed separately by the legislatures of each colony, were in effect uniform. When the. Intercolonial Postal Union started in 1693, every post road had to be made through a wilderness, but by 1698, when Hamilton became owner ofsthe -service, 'these post roads had become routes of accustomed travel for all and could be traversed with imch less difficulty by post riders. Andrew Hamilton, recognized by history as the first Postmaster General of America, died in 1703 and was succeeded by his son, John Hamilton, who operated the system until 1707, when the British Government took over the colonial postal service, paying. Hamilton an idemnity of 51,664. "1 -4-o John Hamilton was retained as Postmaster General by the Crown at a salary of 200 annually. 'Surplus revenues derived from parts of the system were applied to improvement and extension of other less rema- nerative routes, leading eventually to his removal in 1721 by the British 3postmasteru-general" and the appointment in his stead of John Lloyd of Charleston, S. C. Lloyd promoted the mail-packet service from Falmouth, England, to Charleston and New York, and to the West Indies. Alexander Spotswood succeeded Lloyd in 1730. 'Under Postmaster General Spotswood, in 1737, Benjamin Franklin was appointed postmaster at Philadelphia and later as "comptroller in regula- ting several offices and bringing officers to account." Thus it appears that Franklin was the first post office inspector. The Act of 1710 of Queen Anne established a general post office for all the British Empire, under the direction of the Postmaster General who appointed duputies -for the different colonies. New York was ide thk head office for North America. Postage rates thereafter were no longer set by the colonial' legislatures. An 'increase of 33-1/3% in rates left a deficit as large as in Neale's time. After 1753 the American colonies were divided into Northern and Southern districts for postal purposes, the southern office being at Charleston, S. C. and the northern office established under two Postmasters General, one of whom was Benjamin Franklin, who had been postmaster of Philadelphia. When Franklin and Hunter were appointed as postmasters general they were to receive payment for their services only if they could make it out of profits, and then to the amount of 5600 annually. The first -5- four years they lost more than $30,000 but eventually their policy of extending service and instituting improvements was justified. During the second four years of Franklin's administration there was a not surplus of S1,439, or a not surplus for the entire 8 year period of nearly 500. The surplus was sent to England - the first surplus from the colonial postal system to be remitted. Under the administration of Franklin, the Crown continued to enjoy surplus receipts from the colonial postal service; for example, the amounts of 1,859 in 1768-69 and 3,000 for 1773-74 are recorded. Because of his sympathies with, the colonies, Franklin was removed from his post by the English authorities in 1774, an event which was fuel to the rising fire of rebellion culminating in the fight for independence of the American colonies. The post office played an important part in the American Revolution, which is sumarized briefly. The postal system proved the best means for exchanging news, information and official Government intelligence. Thus it was an important instrument in uniting the colonies, establishing common goals, and coordinating and concentrating activities for accom- plishing .common purposes. An important factor in the influence of the post office on the coming Revolution was the antagonism generated by the sending of surplus funds earned by the post office to the King, strength- ened by the dismissal of Franklin as Postmaster General - an action regarded as seizure of the postal system by the oppressors of the colonists. Franklin's dismissal and the ensuing attempt of the postal officials to,* censor all communications, and the exorbitant fees demanded for carrying -6 - colonial newspapers brought a newspaper publisher, William Goddard, to work toward setting up an "American postoffice". He refused to pay the fees demanded by the existing post office and hired his own postriders to carry his mail from Baltimore to Philadelphia, meanwhile urging all the colonists to join him in establishing a' post office which would be free of "spying" by officials of the Crown. The great need for secrecy of the means of communication between the "patriot" organizations speeded the coming of the second postal system, set up mainly to handle official mail and correspondence of patriot groups and newspapers. As early as 1773 there were some of these independent post offices and routes operated by individuals. It is reported that the famous April 18, 1775 ride .of Paul Revere was made in performance of his duties as special rider for, the post office in Massachusetts. In July of 1775 the Continental Congress established a Constitu- tional Post Office with Franklin as Postmaster General. He was directed to establish a line of posts from Massachusetts to Georgia, with cross posts as he might deem necessary.
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